Articles tagged with 'DocSmitty' | Checkup Newsroom

The Texas Poison Control Center Network reports that calls for children ingesting alcohol-based hand sanitizer are up 80% from last year.  Fears regarding COVID-19 have increased the amount of hand sanitizer and other disinfectants in homes, givin...

Being a new parent is hard. Being a new parent today is even harder. With the limitation of visitors, changes to doctor’s offices, and lack of ability to get out of the house (among many other challenges), being a parent in COVID-times is causi...

Generally, I’m not too concerned about the exact number of your child’s temperature. “Felt warm” is usually more than enough for me to know my kid has a fever. But, like many things in medicine, that has changed in the world of COVID-19. Ma...

Recently, I wrote a post titled, “Is Going Back to School or Online Learning Best for Your Child?” A Pediatrician Shares what Parents Should Consider?” Following that initial article, we received a lot of questions from you all. I wanted to take t...

By Justin Smith, M.D. “What’s school going to look like in the fall?” “Should I send my child or keep them at home?” These are the questions that every parent is probably already asking as school districts roll out their plans for re-opening sc...

Wow, what a difference a few months make. Just around four months ago I wrote about an emerging virus which was spreading across a province in China. I urged awareness but not panic as we were seeing a few cases spread outside the local area. W...

As much as anything I’m missing this spring and summer, watching my kids play the sports they love is probably near the top. Sports can teach us so much about life and seeing our kids work hard on something and succeed is one of my favorite parts of ...

As of Monday May 18, Gov Greg Abbott announced that daycare centers in Texas can immediately open. But many parents are still asking the question, 'Should I take my child to daycare?' Of course, there's no one clear answer for all families. The...

By Justin Smith, M.D., Medical Director of Digital Health, Cook Children's Pediatrician We miss you and your sweet kids! What a crazy time the last few months have been. Our entire lives have been changed-work, school, family and free time-they...

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted nearly every facet of our lives. Schools are closed. Many businesses are closed. Parents are working from home. COVID-19 is the name for the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 and consists of a respiratory disease w...

I understand the concern about the coronavirus most of us have right now. After all, it’s dominating the headlines and probably your work and home conversation. But as a pediatrician, let’s talk first about what’s most important to me and you: our...

“Make sure your hair is dry. “Wear shoes outside.” “Put on your hat.” Does any of this really matter? Is any of it true? Between well-meaning friends and family members and the wealth of websites devoted to health, parents are bombarded w...

We’ve been getting a lot of questions about the coronavirus lately. I thought we should take some time to go over the basics of this respiratory illness, based in China. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is closely monitoring ...

"What happens if my child eats all of my adult vitamins?" We received this question recently. Let's discuss. Just like any adult medication, vitamins should be locked away so that kids can't get to them. Vitamins are particularly risky because,...

“What do I do when my pre-teen or teenager starts to pull away?” Man…this is a tough one. Remember when your child was a toddler, and you taught them to poop on the potty? It was all leading up to this moment. Everything we have taught them alo...

I’ve never been a big proponent of giving a baby medication for normal fussiness or spitting up. But when the fussiness symptoms are severe and consistent with reflux or the baby is not gaining weight well, treatment with an acid reduction medicat...

Fortunately, chest pain in kids is rarely their heart but here are 5 signs that you should be worried about: The pain is "crushing" or pressing down. There are other symptoms like passing out, nausea or skipping/racing heartbeats. The pain is ...

With unseasonably warm weather hovering in the mid-90s, most Texans probably aren’t thinking about the cold and flu season right around the corner. And only time will tell for sure, but some indicators lean toward a potentially severe influenza se...

"He's having difficulty breathing" is a statement that can mean a million things, including something as simple as a stuffy nose...because it can be difficult to breathe through a stuffy nose. But when I call  a nurse to help me because this child is...

I read the report on essential oils from the Tennesee poison center with great interest. The report said that reports of toxic exposure to essential oils doubled from 2011 to 2015. I've been interested in essential oils for a while now, beginning ...

Previously, I looked at the safety and research of essential oils and children. Today, I will answer more questions asked on my Facebook page. Effectiveness/General Use Do they really work or is it a mind over matter thing? I think that ther...

I decided to tackle the subject of essential oils. I know many people out there are firm believers in how effective they are. So before I approached this topic, I did some pretty significant research into what is out there on the use of oils in child...

Believe it or not, summer’s almost over and the new school year will begin before you know it. Are you ready? Or are you like a certain dad I know who usually waits until the last minute? Last year, this dad forgot: To book his child's ph...

I’ve written a lot about fevers in hopes of calming parents’ fears. But when it comes to newborns, forget everything I’ve always taught you about fever. If an infant has a fever, it is a sign something is wrong and a serious cause for concern I...

Although she wouldn’t call herself “100% anti-vax” at the time, Amanda Carroll declined to give her first-born son his hepatitis B vaccine at birth. With the next group of shots scheduled at his 2-month checkup, Amanda and her husband weren’t so s...

So, your baby is 1 year old and everything is changing …They are starting to take a few steps and babbling a ton (maybe even saying a word or two). Just when you thought you had this all figured out, everything changes. They were doing great, brea...

Out of 25 counties in the U.S. with the highest risk for a measles outbreak, Tarrant County ranks number 12 according to research published in the latest edition of The Lancet Infectious Diseases. To identify the hot spots, researchers from the Un...

Popular rocking sleepers have been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons.  Last week, Kids2 recalled all of its rocking sleeping models after reports that say five children have died in its sleeper since they were introduced in March 20...

“It’s just a virus.” I hate that phrase and I know it never gives parents comfort when they hear it from doctors. Doctors (I’ll admit I’ve said it too) usually say “it’s just a virus” to let parents know we don’t see anything that suggests a ba...

Have you heard about the Momo Challenge? Probably by now you have. But if you haven't, there's a good chance your kids have. It's the latest viral sensation freaking everyone out. But should you be concerned? And is it even real? Here are a few of...